Top 10 Most Attention-Grabbing Local Movie Posters from 2013

(SPOT.ph) The Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) has concluded, which means that the cycle of life for Filipino movies is refreshed. This brings relief to some but let’s not wave any white flags. Last year was more than good to the local cinema scene. Classics were restored and our stories were heard across oceans. We’re not going to let disappointing releases overshadow the beautiful art that was made in 2013.

And to celebrate that art, we’re picking our favorite local movie posters of 2013. As the producers of Boy Golden would know, it matters that you sell your story from trailer to paper. Here’s the best of them!

Notes: We are not picking the best movies, we are picking the best posters. The connection of the poster to the movie is part of the criteria but great layout, amazing typography, and other aesthetic merits are the primary bases of the selection.

ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW

Ang Tag-araw ni Twinkle (Cine Filipino, directed by Gil M. Portes)

The movie: Portes’ film explores the loss and recovery of relationships, as seen through the life of Twinkle.

The poster: The negative space around Ellen Adarna lends a haunted feeling to her curved figure. The little sun on the second T makes the alliteration of the title even more interesting and makes good use of the cloudscape behind it. Amid posters that rely heavily on beautiful faces, this stands out for utilizing a beautifully composed photograph to tell a story.

The poster: The movie itself is fun and the creativity within it overflowed into the promotional materials. Blue Bustamente rides The Great Wave of Kanagawa, painting quite an interesting picture through the use of absurd imagery. The little Philippine flag is a nice touch.

The poster: Seeing Julio Madiaga and Ligaya Paraiso together in this minimalist one-sheet is heartbreaking, especially with the knowledge of their fate. The image has the right amount of contrast-not too harsh, not too soft-and the bold red letters of the title that breaks the monochrome scheme is just typographic poetry.

ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW

Katapusang Labok (Short Film, Cinemalaya, directed by Aiess Alonso )

The movie: A fisherman walks away from his boat, heading towards devotion...and cockfighting.

The poster: The traditionally painted flowers that line the photograph of the religious icon is elegant and we like how the shells are tucked within the image. All the important symbols of the plot are cleverly placed. Poignant and effective.

The poster: Iconic is the best description for this poster. Big stars are behind the production but all you see are elements from the film, the tagline, and the title. No noise, no nonsense.

ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW

Hello World (Cine Filipino, directed by Joel Ferrer)

The movie: One summer before college, two friends say hello to the world.

The poster: We’re feeling Vertigo and Into the Void from this poster and that’s not a bad thing. Great use of pink.

Angustia (Cine Filipino, directed by Kristian Sendon Cordero)

The movie: Rated X period film, Angustia tells the story of a Spanish friar who has illicit relations with a local in his parish.

The poster: The details on the title takes us straight to the land of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo! The use of lush green colors for the leaves that frame the two main characters, posed in a suggestive manner without being explicit! Oh, how this poster makes us happy!

The alternate poster for Angustia is beautifully designed as well. We love details:

ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW

The Guerilla is a Poet (Cine Filipino, directed by Sari and Kiri Dalena)

The movie: A biopic of the leftist icon, Jose Maria Sison

The poster: The typewriter typeface is a little trite, but the smears on Joma’s outline paired with the transition of the rifle to a fountain pen is exquisite. Simple and stunning all at once.

ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW

Purok 7 (Cinemalaya, directed by Carlo Obispo)

The movie: Country life and childhood.

The poster: The banderitas stemming to and from the title adds a rural but festive dimension to it. The details of the map are curious to look at, with the two children beside a tree at the bottom placed at a considerable distance from the town. Notice how the roads lead nowhere. Very interesting choice of elements.

The movie: A collection of stories, leaning towards visual experimentation.

The poster: It’s a shout-out to old posters but not quite. Upon closer inspection, the images aren’t Photoshopped as smoothly as they should be. It’s common knowledge that you can perfectly mimic the posters of days gone by with great ease through trusty photo-editing software, so it’s evident that it’s purposefully fitting the new within the old. We like motivated mistakes.